Cook County Jail computer system crashes

March 17, 2009

An 18-hour crash Monday of a 30-year-old computer system at Cook County Jail delayed court hearings and interfered with the release of some prisoners, a jail watchdog said today.

"The jail had to go back to 30-year-old technology," said Charles Fasano of the John Howard Association, a group that monitors conditions at the jail as part of a consent decree in a federal lawsuit over jail overcrowding.

The Daily Herald reports guards had to issue paper passes to prisoners and write down booking information to be entered into computer systems later, said Fasano. Some prisoners missed or were late to their court hearings, and others may have been delayed in getting released from jail on time, which could lead to lawsuits, Fasano said.